Katie Cincotta

If you're a fan of tech podcast TWiT (This Week in Tech), with Leo Laporte, you would have heard some colourful commentary about the Surface Pro launch in the US on February 9. Here were some of the US's leading tech commentators complaining that they couldn't get their hands on Microsoft's first personal computer - a much-hyped tablet with a detachable keyboard cover that promised to be the first truly portable stage for the company's Windows OS.

The Surface Pro proved elusive, with just a handful of the tablets on shelves in Microsoft stores in the US. Many pundits surmised it was a ploy by the company to create demand and buzz. Others reckoned Microsoft simply underestimated demand for its machine.

Microsoft hasn't yet announced when the Surface Pro will reach Australia, although its poor cousin the Surface RT, which runs only apps and MS Office, has been on sale since November.

Initially Microsoft chose to sell the Surface RT from its website only, which irked Australian multinationals that were shut out of the market.

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''It's obviously disappointing but it probably hurts Microsoft more, not having that wide distribution and the ability for consumers to touch and feel these devices,'' says JB Hi-Fi chief executive Terry Smart. ''That's what really sells them, and I just think they're tampering with their own sales.''

Ruslan Kogan, founder of consumer electronics site kogan.com.au, was the first local retailer to sell the Surface, taking orders on November 14.

He thinks Microsoft is ahead of the curve in its decision to distribute exclusively online - in effect, removing middle-men to get the word out on a new product.

''It's an awesome strategy,'' he says. ''You'll see a lot more manufacturers doing this. They're realising that they're adding no value in the supply chain. The bottom line is the customer gets a cheaper price.''

Kogan, who reportedly made a $1 million public bet with Terry Smart that JB Hi-Fi would not be selling Apple products by March 2014, believes brands such as Apple will soon dump their third-party distribution networks as customers continue to both research and buy online.

''Nobody wants to hold stuff any more,'' Kogan says. ''You can't sit there in a store testing battery life, so you read the expert views and make the informed decision online.''

Microsoft won't reveal sales figures, but according to market watcher IHS iSuppli, of 1.25 million Surface tablets shipped during the fourth quarter of 2012, only 55 per cent to 60 per cent were purchased, leaving half the stock to gather dust on shop and warehouse shelves.

Adding to Microsoft's Surface RT woes, along with the lukewarm response, IHS reported a ''very high'' return rate on the device, which it attributed to the steep learning curve required to use the Windows 8 OS.

Dell Australia product manager Phil Muffet says his company has learnt from the Surface RT experience. Much of Dell's range is sold exclusively from its website, but for the launch of its Latitude 10 business tablet, it will work with resellers. ''Price isn't everything, and that's why Dell is becoming more and more channel-friendly using reseller partners,'' he says.

Dell is selling the Latitude 10 directly on its website but will distribute through resellers in some markets, including Tasmania, which is one of its strongest reseller communities in Australia.

''That's driven off the back of local relationships - and those strong reseller communities value face time,'' Muffet says. ''The reason I insisted that we use reseller channels for our tablet is that people don't necessarily know how to use it.''

Muffet says to sell Dell's new ''fleet tablet'' to businesses, he goes out to find how people want and need to work with a portable PC.

''We're not arrogant - we don't know the best way, for instance, for a miner to use a tablet, so part of our consulting service is to sit with the user and understand their workloads and show them how they can get the most out of that device so it's not just an expensive Sudoku machine.''

There are no Microsoft stores in Australia, so consumers willing to buy the Surface RT online (and wait up to three weeks for a pre-order) had to take a leap of faith. Smart says that's not a risk an average consumer is willing to take. ''People like to feel the weight, touch the interface and understand the accessories, and when they can't do that, there are a lot of great alternatives out there. You've got to be a fanboy to wait three weeks for one pre-ordered online.''

Three months since Surface RT launched, it's now for sale in stores and online at retailers such as JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman. When asked to explain its shift to a multi-channel sales strategy, Microsoft declined to comment. It's been busy sorting supply issues for the Surface Pro, with the full Windows 8 OS, which is out of stock on most e-commerce websites.

With the Surface RT languishing in warehouses and the Surface Pro just about unobtainable - stores estimate a month's wait on orders - Microsoft seems to know no middle ground.